Rachel Elnaugh | |
|---|---|
 Elnaugh in 2023 | |
| Born | 1964 (age 59–60) Essex, England |
| Education | Chelmsford County High School for Girls |
| Known for | Red Letter Days, Dragons' Den, Anti-vaccine activism |
| Children | 5 |
| Website | https://rachelelnaugh.com |
Rachel Elnaugh (born 1964 [1] ) is a former British entrepreneur who founded the UK gift company Red Letter Days. She was one of the investors participating in the first two series of BBC Two's reality TV show Dragons' Den .
Elnaugh was born in Essex in 1964. When she was young she lived above her father's electrical shop, 'Elnaugh and Son' in Chelmsford. Rachel attended Chelmsford County High School for Girls, a grammar school in Essex. She originally wanted to take art history, but she was rejected by five universities. [2] [1] Before she founded her own company, she worked for the accountancy firm Arthur Andersen. [3]
In 1989, Elnaugh founded Red Letter Days, one of the first UK companies to sell experiential gifts, such as motor racing days, hot air ballooning and health spa days. [4] [2] She could not get a bank loan at the time, so friends and family contributed £7,000 to the budget. [3]
The company grew to an £18 million annual turnover and led to Elnaugh being a 2001/2 finalist in the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. [5] [3]
In 2005, the company went into administration, and the remaining assets and inventory were bought by her fellow Dragons' Den entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones. [6] [7] ITV1's Tonight programme criticised the business model of Red Letter Days, which included unpaid suppliers and disappointed purchasers. The programme suggested that the company failed to escrow or earmark supplier payment equity, using it instead as working capital. [8] [9] However, Elnaugh blamed Red Letter Days' bankers, [8] and stated that the decision to go into administration was made to minimise job losses at the company. [10]
In the mid 2000s, Elnaugh joined the BBC's reality series Dragons' Den . [4] She was one of the five investors ("Dragons") in the first two series of the show, being the only female dragon at that time. [11] During her tenure on the show, she made five agreed investment offers [12] –in Grails, [13] Le Beanock, [14] Snowbone, [15] Elizabeth Galton [16] and Bedlam Puzzles. [17] [18] After Red Letter Days went into administration, between the filming and release of the second season, her "position became untenable" according to Elnaugh, and she was replaced in the third season by Deborah Meaden. [19] [20]
In 2005, she was head of a company called Easyart. [2] The following year, she produced a double CD pack consisting of "positive business thinking", The Life Changers, with hypnotherapist Glenn Harrold. [19] In her book Business Nightmares - When Entrepreneurs Hit Crisis Point (2008), she wrote of her Red Letter Days experiences. [21] [1] The Evening Herald 's reviewer said "A novel and more original approach to the jaded "how to get ahead in business" manuals, even for the casual browser, Business Nightmares makes for a surprisingly entertaining and accessible read." [22] Elnaugh founded the digital publishing and marketing platform Source TV in 2013. [1] Her book Prosperity was published in 2016. She described it as "a summary of Rachel's key teachings around money, flow and abundance drawn from her years as a business mentor". [1]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she aired her views on the vaccination programme, calling COVID vaccinations of 12-15-year-olds "child abuse". She was criticised when she called for Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government, to hang. [23] [24]
Elnaugh was subsequently part of a group called 'Phoenix Rose' which bought 72 acres of land in Cressbrook Dale, Derbyshire, in an attempt to create a "safe haven away from the threat that humanity [is] facing". [25] [26] The scheme, that has been described as an 'anti-vax outpost', proved controversial with locals. [25] [1] [26] The group was served with an enforcement notice in August 2023, but took no action, causing the Peak District National Park Authority to forcibly remove the structures at the site, in December of that year. [27] [26]
In May 2023, Elnaugh stood for a seat on the Derbyshire Dales District Council, under a party that she co-founded earlier that year called the LOVE Party. However, the party is not registered with the Electoral Commission, [28] so she appeared on the ballot as an independent. She came in sixth place with 175 votes, being beaten by Conservative Party candidates Mark Wakeman and Gareth Bryn Gee. [29] In February 2024 she stood in a local council by-election and placed last with 36 votes, the seat was won by Labour candidate Bob Butcher. [30]
In February 2024, she announced her intention to stand in that year's East Midlands mayoral election, under the name "Rachel Elnaugh-Love". [31] However, after the deadline for candidates to be officially registered, on the 6 April, had passed, her name did not appear on the final list. [32] She again stood under that name in the 2024 general election for the Derbyshire Dales constituency. [33] [34] She said her focus locally would be on promoting farming, tourism, affordable housing and reopening railways; and nationally on opposing "big corporations" and "involvement with overseas wars." [35] She came sixth with 369 votes. [36]
In 2020 Elnaugh was given a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £90 compensation, £85 costs and a £21 victim surcharge for criminal damage in Bakewell. [37]
As of 2023, she has five sons and has been married twice. [1] [24]
Rachel Hannah Weisz is an English-American actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received several awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Peabody Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award.
Red Letter Days is a UK company which was an early adopter of the concept of giving experience day vouchers as gifts and corporate rewards. It is based in Farringdon, London, in the offices of its parent company, Moonpig Group.
The Derby Telegraph, formerly the Derby Evening Telegraph, is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the Derby Telegraph team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand.
Derbyshire Dales is a constituency that has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by John Whitby of the Labour Party. The constituency was created for the 2010 general election.
Mid Derbyshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The Member of Parliament has been Jonathan Davies of the Labour Party since the 2024 United Kingdom general election. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
Deborah Sonia Meaden FRSA is a British businessperson and TV personality who ran a multimillion-pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout. She is best known for her appearances as a 'Dragon' on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den.
Dragons' Den is a British reality television business programme, presented by Evan Davis and based upon the original Japanese series. The show allows several entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors, the "Dragons" of the show's title, and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return.
Rachel Jane Reeves is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West and Pudsey, formerly Leeds West, since 2010. She previously held various shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet portfolios between 2010 and 2015 and from 2020 to 2024.
Peter David Jones is an English entrepreneur, businessman, investor, and reality television personality, with interests in mobile phones, television, media, leisure, retail, publishing and property. He is the last remaining original investor on the BBC One series Dragons' Den, and has appeared on other television programmes with similar formats including Shark Tank in the United States.
Hilary Lorraine Devey CBE was an English businesswoman and television personality best known for her role on the BBC Two programme Dragons' Den until she left to present the Channel 4 series The Intern.
Pauline Elizabeth Latham, is a British Conservative Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Derbyshire, serving until she stood down at the 2024 general election.
Rupa Asha Huq is a British Labour politician, columnist and academic. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing Central and Acton since 2015.
Andrew Iain Lewer is a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Northampton South from 2017 to 2024, and as Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands from 2014 to 2017.
Jessica Rose Phillips is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls since July 2024.
Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey is an American-born British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 2019. She was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from November 2023 until July 2024. She has been Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons since November 2024, serving alongside Gagan Mohindra.
Sara Davies is a British businesswoman, entrepreneur, and television personality. She is the founder and owner of Crafter's Companion, a company she started while a student at the University of York. In April 2019 it was announced that she would join the panel of the BBC television programme Dragons' Den for its seventeenth series, replacing Jenny Campbell who decided to leave the programme in early 2019. In 2021, Davies was appointed the North East Ambassador for Smart Works Newcastle, a charity supporting unemployed women into work through clothing and coaching. In July 2024, Davies was appointed Chief Inspiration Officer for Avon UK.
Sarah Elizabeth Dines is a British Conservative Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Derbyshire Dales from 2019 to 2024. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding from October 2022 to November 2023. She served as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from September to October 2022.
Dehenna Sheridan Davison is a former British Conservative Party politician and broadcaster. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland from 2019 to 2024. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up between September 2022 and September 2023.
Sorcha-Lucy Eastwood is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 2024. A member of the Alliance Party, she previously served as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2022 until her election to the House of Commons in 2024.
John Michael Whitby is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales since 2024. A former musician, he was the lead singer of The Beyond in the 1980s and 1990s.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
